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{{Short description|Feminine qualities in boys or men}} |
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'''Effeminacy''' is unmanly weakness, [[soft]]ness or [[delicate|delicacy]]. [[OED]] It has nothing to do with gender roles and it does not have any sexual connotations. [[Aristotle]] labeled it as a [[vice]]. He said that "[[Cowardice]] is accompanied by softness (malakia), unmanliness, faint-heartedness."(1) It was also a concomitant of uncontrol: "The concomitants of uncontrol are softness (malakia) and negligence." (2) |
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{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} |
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'''Effeminacy''' or '''male femininity'''<ref>Hoskin R. A. “Femininity? It’s the aesthetic of subordination”: Examining femmephobia, the gender binary, and experiences of oppression among sexual and gender minorities // Archives of sexual behavior. – 2020. – V. 49. – №. 7. – p. 2319-2339.</ref><ref>Berkowitz D., Windsor E. J., Han C. W. (ed.). Male femininities. – NYU Press, 2023.</ref> is the embodiment of [[feminine]] traits in [[boys]] or [[men]], particularly those considered untypical of men or [[masculinity]].<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|effeminate}}</ref> These traits include [[gender roles|roles]], [[gender stereotypes|stereotypes]], behaviors, and appearances that are socially associated with [[girls]] and [[women]]. Throughout [[Western civilization]], men considered effeminate have faced [[prejudice]] and [[discrimination]]. [[Gay men]] are often [[LGBT stereotypes|stereotype]]d as being effeminate, and vice versa. However, femininity, masculinity, and other forms of [[gender expression]] are independent of [[sexual orientation]]. |
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== History == |
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== |
==Terminology{{anchor|Etymology}}== |
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''Effeminate'' comes from [[Latin]] ''[[wikt:effeminatus|effeminātus]]'', from the [[factitive]] [[prefix]] ''ex-'' (from ''ex'' 'out') and ''femina'' 'woman'; it means 'made feminine, emasculated, weakened'. |
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''Effeminacy'' comes from the [[Latin]], "ex" which is "out" and "femina" which means [[woman]]; it basically means for a man to be like a woman. The Latin term for the vice is "mollites". The word [[effete]] stems from effeminacy. |
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Other vernacular words for effeminacy include: ''pansy'', ''nelly'', ''pretty boy'', ''nancy boy'', ''girly boy'', ''molly'', ''[[sissy]]'', ''[[pussy]]'', ''tomgirl'', ''femboy'',<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/gender-sexuality/femboy/|title=What Does femboy Mean? {{!}} Gender & Sexuality by Dictionary.com|website=Everything After Z by Dictionary.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-11}}</ref> ''roseboy'', ''baby'', and ''[[girl]]'' (when applied to a boy or, especially, adult man). The word ''effete'' similarly implies effeminacy or over-refinement, but comes from the Latin term ''effetus'' meaning 'having given birth; exhausted', from ''ex-'' and ''fetus'' 'offspring'. The term ''tomgirl'', meaning a girlish boy, comes from an inversion of ''[[tomboy]]'', meaning a boyish girl. The term ''girly boy'' comes from a gender-inversion of ''[[girly girl]]''. |
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The Greek word is "malakos" (or "soft"). "Malakoi" was a common Greek term meaning men who were effeminate; it is a term of shame, as words for effeminacy would be today. |
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==History== |
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Effeminacy was also known by the other Greek word ''androyinon'' ([[androgyny]]). It is made up of two Greek words; "Andre" meaning man and "Yinon" meaning woman. It literally means "manwoman". |
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{{Globalize section|date=September 2023}} |
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=== |
===Ancient Greece and Rome=== |
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{{Main|Classical definition of effeminacy}} |
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It had educational implications (''see'' [[Paideia]]). [[Pericles]] in his famous Funeral Oration said that the Athenians "cultivate...knowledge without effeminacy (aneu malakoi)". (3) This statement and idea of education without effeminacy was visible in the educational philosophies of Victorian England and 19th century America. |
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====Greece==== |
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To the Greeks, men could either be made manly or effeminate. Socrates in ''The Republic'' observed that "too much music effeminizes the male." (4) Therefore, effeminacy in Ancient Greece had political implications as well. The presence or absence of this character in man and his society determined if his society was [[freedom (political)|free]] or slavish. The Greeks applied this term to the Asiatics because they always lived under [[tyranny]]. (a) To them, their self-government was a product of their manliness. (see [[The Kyklos]].) |
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[[File:The Younger Apollo Teaching Hyacinth to Play Lyra. Louis de Boullogne.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Younger Apollo Teaching Hyacinth to Play Lyra'' by [[Louis de Boullogne]]]] |
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Greek historian [[Plutarch]] recounts that Periander, the tyrant of [[Ambracia]], asked his "boy", "Aren't you pregnant yet?" in the presence of other people, causing the boy to kill him in revenge for being treated as if effeminate or a woman (''Amatorius'' 768F). |
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When [[Aeschines]] was accused of treason by Athenians Timarchus and [[Demosthenes]] in 346 BC, he brought a counter suit claiming Timarchus had prostituted himself to (or been "kept" by) other men (''[[Against Timarchus]]''). He also attributed [[Demosthenes]]' nickname Batalos ("arse") to his "unmanliness and ''kinaidiā''" and frequently commented on his "unmanly and womanish temper", even criticising his clothing: "If anyone took those dainty little coats and soft shirts off you... and took them round for the jurors to handle, I think they'd be quite unable to say, if they hadn't been told in advance, whether they had hold of a man's clothing or a woman's."<ref name="Dover, 1989">Dover, 1989</ref> |
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[[Herodotus]] recounted an incident that happened in [[Asia Minor]]: |
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In ancient Koine Greek, the word for effeminate is κίναιδος ''kinaidos'' (''[[cinaedus]]'' in its Latinized form), or μαλακός ''[[malakoi]]'': a man "whose most salient feature was a supposedly 'feminine' love of being sexually penetrated by other men":<ref>Winkler, 1990</ref> |
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:"But let the Lydians be pardoned; and lay on them this command, that they may not revolt or be dangerous to you; then, I say, and forbid them to possess weapons of war, and command them to wear tunics under their cloaks and buskins on their feet, and to teach their sons lyre-playing and song and dance and huckstering (the word "retail" in one translation). Then, O King, you will soon see them turned to women instead of men; and thus you need not fear lest they revolt." (5) |
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{{blockquote|A ''cinaedus'' is a man who cross-dresses or flirts like a girl. Indeed, the word's etymology suggests an indirect sexual act emulating a promiscuous woman. This term has been borrowed from the Greek ''kinaidos'' (which may itself have come from a language of [[Ionia]]n Greeks of [[Asia Minor]], primarily signifying a purely effeminate dancer who entertained his audiences with a ''tympanum'' or [[tambourine]] in his hand, and adopted a lascivious style, often suggestively wiggling his buttocks in such a way as to suggest anal intercourse....The primary meaning of ''cinaedus'' never died out; the term never became a [[dead metaphor]]."<ref>Williams, 1999</ref>}} |
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This was an appeal from King Croesus, the king of the Lydians, a Greek city and people on the West coast of Turkey, to the Persian King. What the defeated king proposed was to inculturate softness in order to make the people docile and servile; effeminacy was the mark of a slave. |
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The late Greek{{efn|possibly c. fourth century}} ''[[Amores (Lucian)|Erôtes]]'' ("Loves", "Forms of Desire", "Affairs of the Heart"), preserved with manuscripts by [[Lucian]], contains a debate "between two men, Charicles and Callicratidas, over the relative merits of women and boys as vehicles of male sexual pleasure." Callicratidas, "far from being effeminised by his sexual predilection for boys... Callicratidas's inclination renders him hypervirile... Callicratidas's sexual desire for boys, then, makes him more of a man; it does not weaken or subvert his male [[gender identity]] but rather consolidates it." In contrast, "Charicles' erotic preference for women seems to have had the corresponding effect of effeminising him: when the reader first encounters him, for example, Charicles is described as exhibiting 'a skillful use of cosmetics, so as to be attractive to women.{{'"}} |
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Uses of androyinon (androgyny): |
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====Rome==== |
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:"Fear casts down the slothful; and the souls of the effeminate(androyinon) shall hunger." [[Septuagint]], Prov 18.8 |
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[[File:Nisos Euryalos Louvre LL450 n1.jpg|thumb|right|In [[Virgil]]'s tale of the two young lovers, [[Nisus and Euryalus]], Euryalus was "beautiful" and had a close relationship with his mother, while Nisus was fast and skilled with weaponry.<ref>Louis Crompton, ''Homosexuality and Civilization'' (Harvard University Press, 2003), pp. 84–86; Winn, ''The Poetry of War'', p. 162.</ref>]] |
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Over-refinement, fine clothes and other possessions, the company of women, certain trades, and too much fondness with women were all deemed effeminate traits in Roman society. Taking an inappropriate sexual position, passive or "[[Bottom (sex)|bottom]]", in same-gender sex was considered effeminate and unnatural. Touching the head with a finger and wearing a [[goatee]] were also considered effeminate.<ref>Holland, 2004</ref> |
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:"Cowardice possesses the effeminate (androyinon) man." Septuagint, Prov 19.15 |
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Roman consul [[Scipio Aemilianus]] questioned one of his opponents, P. Sulpicius Galus: "For the kind of man who adorns himself daily in front of a mirror, wearing perfume; whose eyebrows are shaved off; who walks around with plucked beard and thighs; who when he was a young man reclined at banquets next to his lover, wearing a long-sleeved tunic; who is fond of men as he is of wine: can anyone doubt that he has done what ''cinaedi'' are in the habit of doing?"<ref>fr. 17 Malcovati; Aulus Gellius, 6.12.5; cited/translated by Williams 1999, p. 23</ref> |
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The Greek idea of mechanical trades as incurring effeminacy of their laborers was spoken by Xenophon: |
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Roman orator [[Quintilian]] described, "The plucked body, the broken walk, the female attire," as "signs of one who is soft [mollis] and not a real man."<ref>''Institutes'' 5.9.14, cited/translated by Richlin, 1993</ref> |
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:"Men do indeed speak ill of those occupations which are called handicrafts, and they are rightly held of little repute in communities, because they weaken the bodies of those who make their living at them by compelling them to sit and pass their days indoors. Some indeed work all the time by a fire. But when the body becomes effeminate the mind too is debilitated. Besides, these mechanical occupations ([[vanavsos]]) leave a man no leisure to attend to his friends' interests, or the public interest. This class therefore cannot be of much use to his friends or defend his country. Indeed, some states, especially the most warlike, do not allow a citizen to engage in these handicraft occupations." (7) |
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For Roman men masculinity also meant self-control, even in the face of painful emotions, illnesses, or death. [[Cicero]] says, "There exist certain precepts, even laws, that prohibit a man from being effeminate in pain,"<ref>''Fin''. 2.94</ref> and [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] adds, "If I must suffer illness, it will be my wish to do nothing out of control, nothing effeminately."<ref>''Epist''. 67.4</ref> |
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The Greeks tended to see things in totality, as opposed to compartmentalizing their thought. If the body was weak and soft, as the sentiment went, the mind is weak and soft, thereby lending to a man who was effeminate. Everything: food, sleeping habits, clothing, labors, work, education, and music affected the [[character]] of a man. The excess or definciency in any of these either made the man effeminate or manly. (see [[Golden Mean]]). |
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Emperor/philosopher [[Julian (emperor)|Julian the Apostate]], in his [[Against the Galilaeans|''Against the Galileans'']], wrote: <nowiki>''</nowiki>Why are the Egyptians more intelligent and more given to crafts, and the Syrians unwarlike and effeminate, but at the same time intelligent, hot-tempered, vain and quick to learn?<nowiki>''</nowiki> |
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=== The Bible === |
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In his ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Commentaries]] on the [[Gallic Wars]]'', [[Julius Caesar]] wrote that the [[Belgae|Belgians]] were the bravest of all [[Gaul]]s because "merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind".<ref>''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'', I,1</ref> |
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The ''Cruden's Complete Concordance to the Bible'' of 1737 points to places in the Bible where "Weak and ineffectual men are sometimes spoken of as women": [[Masoretic]] text, Is 3.12; 19.16; and Septuagint, Is 19.16; Nah 3.13; Jer 28.30. (6) |
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Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]] evidently considered effeminacy an undesirable trait, but it is unclear what or who was being referred to.<ref>Meditations, Book 4.</ref> |
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Malakos is listed among other vices 1 Cor. 6:9. |
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=== United States === |
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==Gay men== |
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To strengthen the argument of the "mechanics", [[Thomas Jefferson]] said something similar to Xenophon (see above): |
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{{See also|Masculinity#Men|Gay men|Discrimination against gay men}} |
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===China=== |
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:"The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human body. I consider the class of artificers as the panderers of vice, and the instruments by which the liberties of a country are generally overturned." (8) |
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The Chinese term for 'girlie men' is ''[[niang pao]]''. |
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In September 2021, the [[Associated Press]] reported that the mainland Chinese government has banned effeminate men from appearing in television commercials. The Chinese government instructed broadcasters to stop showing "sissy men".<ref>{{cite web| url = https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/china-bans-sissy-men-tv-crackdown-79786409| title = China bans men it sees as not masculine enough from TV - ABC News| website = [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-entertainment-business-religion-china-62dda0fc98601dd5afa3aa555a901b3f| title = China bans men it sees as not masculine enough from TV {{!}} AP News| website = [[Associated Press]]| date = 2 September 2021}}</ref> |
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===United States=== |
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== Other occurances of the word == |
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In the United States, boys are often [[Homosociality|homosocial]],<ref>Gagnon, 1977</ref> and gender role performance determines social rank.<ref>David and Brannon, 1976</ref> While [[gay]] boys receive the same [[enculturation]], they are less compliant. Martin Levine summarizes: "Harry (1982, 51–52), for example, found that 42 percent of his gay respondents were '[[Sissy|sissies]]' during childhood. Only 11 percent of his heterosexual samples were gender-role nonconformists. Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981, 188) reported that half of their male homosexual subjects practised gender-inappropriate behaviour in childhood. Among their heterosexual men, the rate of noncompliance was 25 percent. Saghir and Robins (1973, 18) found that one-third of their gay man respondents conformed to gender role dictates. Only 3 percent of their heterosexual men deviated from the norm." Thus effeminate boys, or sissies, are physically and verbally harassed (Saghir and Robins, 1973, 17–18; Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith 1981, 74–84), causing them to feel worthless<ref name="Harry 1982, 20">Harry 1982, 20</ref> and "de-feminise".<ref name="Harry 1982, 20"/><ref>Saghir and Robins 1973, 18–19</ref><ref>Levine, 1998, p. 5–16</ref> |
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* "The words of the cunning knaves are '''soft''' (malakoi)" [[Septuagint]], Prov. 26.22. |
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Before the [[Stonewall riots]], inconsistent gender role performance had been noticed among [[gay men]]:<ref>Karlen, 1978</ref><ref name="Cory and LeRoy, 1963">Cory and LeRoy, 1963</ref><ref>Newton, 1972</ref> "They have a different face for different occasions. In conversations with each other, they often undergo a subtle change. I have seen men who appeared to be normal suddenly smile roguishly, soften their voices, and simper as they greeted homosexual friends [...] Many times I saw these changes occur after I had gained a homosexual's confidence and he could safely risk my disapproval. Once as I watched a luncheon companion become an effeminate caricature of himself, he apologized, 'It is hard to always remember that one is a man.'"<ref>Stearn 1962, 29</ref><ref>Levine, 1998, p. 21–23</ref> Before Stonewall, "[[Closeted|closet]]" culture accepted homosexuality as effeminate behaviour, and thus emphasized [[Camp (style)|camp]], [[drag (clothing)|drag]], and [[swish (slang)|swish]], including an interest in fashion<ref name=":0">Henry, 1955</ref><ref name=":1">West, 1977</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2021-01-08|title='Femboys': The TikTok trend shaking up gender norms|url=https://happymag.tv/femboy/|access-date=2021-01-08|website=Happy Mag|language=en-US}}</ref> and decorating.<ref>Fischer 1972</ref><ref>White 1980</ref><ref>Henry 1955, 304</ref> Masculine gay men were marginalised<ref>Warren 1972, 1974</ref><ref>Helmer 1963</ref> and formed their own communities, such as the [[leather subculture]],<ref name="OG Tradition">{{cite web |url=http://www.blackandtansociety.com/ach/gbaldwin.html |title=THE OLD GUARD (The History of Leather Traditions) |access-date=27 October 2010 |year=1993 |author=Guy Baldwin |work=Ties that Bind |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105184805/http://www.blackandtansociety.com/ach/gbaldwin.html |archive-date=5 January 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and/or wore clothes that were commonly associated with [[working-class]] individuals,<ref>Fischer, 1972</ref> such as [[Sailor suit|sailor uniforms]].<ref name="Cory and LeRoy, 1963"/><ref>Levine, 1998, p. 21–23, 56</ref> |
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* "Why then did you go out? To see a man clothed in '''soft''' (malakoi) rainment? Behold those who wear '''soft''' (malakoi) rainment are in king's houses." Matthew 11:8 and Luke 7:25. |
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{{quote box |
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* "Or do you not know that the unjust will not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the '''effeminate''' (malakoi), nor sodomites, will possess the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. 6.9 The New American Catholic Edition, l958 |
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| quote = There is a definite prejudice towards men who use femininity as part of their palette; their emotional palette, their physical palette. Is that changing? It's changing in ways that don't advance the cause of femininity. I'm not talking frilly-laced pink things or Hello Kitty stuff. I'm talking about goddess energy, intuition and feelings. That is still under attack, and it has gotten worse. |
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| source = - [[RuPaul]]<ref>[[n:RuPaul speaks about society and the state of drag as performance art|Interview with RuPaul]], David Shankbone, ''[[Wikinews]]'', October 6, 2007.</ref>}} |
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After Stonewall, "[[Castro clone|clone culture]]" became dominant and effeminacy is now marginalised. One indicator of this is a definite preference shown in personal ads for masculine-behaving men.<ref>Bailey et al. 1997.</ref> The avoidance of effeminacy by men, including gay ones, has been linked to possible impedance of personal and public health. Regarding [[HIV/AIDS]], masculine behaviour was stereotyped as being unconcerned about safe sex practices while engaging in promiscuous sexual behaviour. Early reports from New York City indicated that more women had themselves tested for HIV/AIDS than men.<ref>Sullivan, 1987</ref><ref>Levine, 1998, p. 148</ref> [[David Halperin]] compares "universalising" and "minoritising" notions of gender deviance: "'Softness' either may represent the specter of potential gender failure that haunts all normative masculinity, an ever-present threat to the masculinity of every man, or it may represent the disfiguring peculiarity of a small class of deviant individuals."<ref>[[David Halperin]], 2002</ref> |
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* "[[Kings]] were no longer chosen from the house of Codrus, because they were thought to be luxurious and to have become '''soft''' (malakous)." From the Athenian Constitution. (9) |
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The term ''effeminiphobia'' (sometimes ''effemiphobic'', as used by Randy P. Conner) was coined by Will Fellows to describe strong anti-effeminacy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fellows |first=Will |title=A Passion to Preserve: Gay Men as Keepers of Culture |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |place=Madison, Wisconsin |date=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/passiontopreserv00fell/page/280 280] |url=https://archive.org/details/passiontopreserv00fell |url-access=registration |access-date=2012-02-10|isbn=9780299196837 }}</ref> Michael Bailey coined the similar term ''femiphobia'' to describe the ambivalence gay men and culture have about effeminate behaviour in 1995.<ref>Michael Bailey, 1995</ref> Gay author Tim Bergling popularized the term ''[[sissyphobia]]'' in ''[[Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior]]'',<ref>Dylan Vox, [http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=culture&sc2=features&sc3=&id=53855 "Would Life Be Better if You Were Straight?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233643/http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=culture&sc2=features&sc3=&id=53855 |date=2015-09-23 }}, Gaywired.com, Dec 20, 2007, also appeared in ''Edge'', Boston</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bergling|first=Tim|title=Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior|publisher=Routledge|year=2001|isbn=1-56023-990-5|title-link=Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior}}</ref> although it was used before.<ref>{{cite book|last=Oliven|first=John F.|title=Clinical sexuality: a manual for the physician and the professions|publisher=Lippincott|year=1974|edition= 3rd|page=110|isbn=0-397-50329-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-lrAAAAMAAJ&q=sissyphobia}}</ref> [[Trans woman|Transgender]] writer and [[biologist]] [[Julia Serano]] has coined the similar term ''effemimania''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Kelby|title=Sexual Deceit: The Ethics of Passing|year=2013|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0739177051|page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Serano|first1=Julia|title=Whipping Girl|date=2007|publisher=Seal Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-1580051545|page=133}}</ref> Feminist sociologist Rhea Ashley Hoskin suggests that these terms can be understood as relating to a larger construct of ''[[Wikt:femmephobia#Noun|femmephobia]]'', or "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone who is ''perceived'' to identify, embody, or express femininely and toward people and objects gendered femininely."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hoskin|first=Rhea Ashley|date=2017-06-09|title=Femme Theory: Refocusing the Intersectional Lens|url=http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/atlantis/article/view/4771|journal=Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice|language=en|volume=38|issue=1|pages=95–109 PDF|issn=1715-0698}}</ref> Since the 2000s, [[Peter Hennen]]'s cultural analysis of gay masculinities has found effeminacy to be a "historically varying concept deployed primarily as a means of stabilising a given society's concept of masculinity and controlling the conduct of its men based upon the repudiation of the feminine".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the Masculine|last=Hennen|first=Peter|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|year=2008|isbn=9780226327297|pages=48}}</ref> |
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* "some of the Kings proved '''cowardly''' (malakous) in warfare" (10) |
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== Modern context == |
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* "A true man must have no mark of '''effeminacy''' visible on his face, or any other part of his body. Let no blot on his manliness, then, ever be found either in his movements or habits." [[St. Clement of Alexandria]] (c. 195, E), 2.289. |
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{{See also|Femboy}} |
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{{Expand section|date=September 2022}} |
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'''''Femboy''''' (alternatively spelled '''''femboi'''''<ref name=":3" />) is a modern slang term used to refer to a male who displays traditionally feminine characteristics, such as wearing dresses, skirts, and/or thigh-highs.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Ran |first=Dani |date=2020-08-13 |title=Introducing 'Femboys', the Most Wholesome Trend On TikTok |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/3az4nn/femboys-tiktok-fashion-gen-z |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020175411/https://www.vice.com/en/article/3az4nn/femboys-tiktok-fashion-gen-z |archive-date=2020-10-20 |access-date=2021-05-17 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref> It is a [[portmanteau]] of ''feminine'' and ''boy''.<ref name=":3" /> The term ''femboy'' emerged by at least the 1990s and gained traction online, used in both sexual and non-sexual contexts.<ref name=":3" /> Recently, femboys have become increasingly visible due to their inclusion in popular media, and trends such as "Femboy Friday"<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> and "Femboy Hooters".<ref name=":2" /> These trends involve self-identifying femboys posting images of themselves in online groups and forums, dressed in feminine clothing or a form of [[cosplay]]. Cosplay has become exceedingly popular among online femboys, usually cosplaying female, [[Non-binary gender|non-binary]], or effeminate male characters. |
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While the term can be used as a slur towards [[trans women]], it is also used as a positive/self-describing term within the [[LGBT community]].<ref name=":3" /> |
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* "What is the purpose in the Law's prohibition against a man wearing woman's clothing? Is it not that the Law would have us to be masculine and not to be '''effeminate''' in either person or actions--or in thought and word? Rather, it would have the man who devotes himself to the truth to be [[masculine]] both in acts of endurance and patience--in life, conduct, word, and discipline." St. Clement of Alexandria (c. l95, E), 2.365. |
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==See also== |
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* "Therefore, we also reckon that the woman should be continent and practiced in fighting against pleasures, too. Women are therefore to philosophize equally with men, though the males are preferable at everything, unless they have become '''effeminate'''. To the whole human race, then, discipline and virtue are a necessity, if they would pursue after happiness." St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.419, 420 (11) |
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{{div col|colwidth=30em}} |
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* [[Androgyny]] |
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* [[Bakla]] |
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* {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Bishōnen]]}} |
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* [[En femme]] |
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* [[Ergi]] |
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* [[Femininity]] |
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* [[Gender bender]] |
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* [[Gender variance]] |
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* [[Genderqueer]] |
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* [[Gynomorph]] |
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* [[Herbivore men]] |
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* [[Kkonminam]] |
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* [[Metrosexual]] |
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* [[Non-binary gender]] |
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* [[Otokonoko]] |
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* [[Queer]] |
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* [[Queer heterosexuality]] |
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* [[Sex and gender distinction]] |
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* [[Social construction of gender]] |
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* [[Third gender]] |
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* [[Transgender]] |
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* [[Two-spirit]] |
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{{div col end}} |
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==Notes== |
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* "[[Rome]] was humbled beneath the '''effeminate''' luxury of Oriental despotism." Gibbon ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', 1776. I. 148. |
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{{Notelist}} |
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==References== |
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* "In a slothfull peace both courages will '''effeminate''', and manners corrupt." Bacon ''Greatness Kingd., Ess''., 1612. 239. (12) |
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{{Reflist|20em}} |
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== |
===Bibliography=== |
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{{Refbegin|30em}} |
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Modern scholarship has the term to describe [[feminine]] behaviour, demeanor, and appearance. These judgements largely involve [[anti-gay]] stereotypes, and a [[positive correlation]] presumed between effeminacy and gay men. It generally applied to men individually, but is sometimes used to describe entire societies, in a deliberately inflammatory general allegation. Further, some individuals may call something (even an object) "[[gay]]" to indicate that it is seen to be effeminate. |
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* ''On Virtues and Vices'', Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992. Vol. #285 |
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* ''The Eudemian Ethics'', Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library. Vol. #285 |
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* [[Oxford English Dictionary]], 20 vol. It has 75 references in English literature of over 500 years of usage of the word 'effeminate'. |
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* Davis, Madeline and Lapovsky Kennedy, Elizabeth (1989). "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community", ''Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past'' (1990), Duberman, etc., eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0-452-01067-5}}. |
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* Winkler, John J. (1990). ''The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece''. New York: Routledge. |
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* Williams, Craig A. (1999). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZI_mCwAAQBAJ ''Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity'']. New York: Oxford University Press. |
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* Martin, Dale B. (1996). "Arsenokoités and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences", ''Biblical Ethics & Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture'', Robert L. Brawley, ed. Westminster John Knox Press. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928131647/http://www.clgs.org/5/5_4_3.html] |
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* Holland, Tom (2004). ''Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic''. Doubleday. {{ISBN|0-385-50313-X}}. |
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* Halperin, David M. (2002). ''How To Do The History of Homosexuality'', p. 125. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-31447-2}}. |
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* K.J. Dover, (1989). ''Greek Homosexuality''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-36270-5}}. |
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* Levine, Martin P. (1998). Gay Macho. New York: New York University Press. {{ISBN|0-8147-4694-2}}. |
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* Darryl B. Hill, ''"Feminine" Heterosexual Men: Subverting Heteropatriarchal Sexual Scripts?'' (The Journal of Men's Studies, Spring 2006, Men's Studies Press; ISSN 1060-8265) |
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** Gagnon, John H. (1977). ''Human Sexualities''. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman. |
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** David, Deborah S. and Brannon, Robert (1976). ''The Forty-Nine Percent Majority: The Male Sex Role''. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. |
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** Harry (1982). ''Gay Children Grown Up: Gender, Culture and Gender Deviance''. New York: Praeger. |
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** Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981). ''Sexual Preference: Its Development in Men and Women''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. |
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** Saghir and Robins (1973). |
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** [[Karlen, Arno]] (1978). "Homosexuality: The Scene and Its Student", ''The Sociology of Sex: An Introductory Reader'', James M. Henslin and [[Edward Sagarin]] eds. New York: Schocken. |
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** Cory, Donald W. and LeRoy, John P. (1963). ''The Homosexual and His Society: A View from Within''. New York: Citadel Press. |
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** Newton, Esther (1972). ''Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America''. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. |
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** Stearn, Jess (1962). ''The Sixth Man''. New York: MacFadden. |
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* Bergling, Tim (2001). ''Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior''. New York: Harrington Park Press. {{ISBN|1-56023-990-5}}. |
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** Bailey, Michael; Kim, Peggy; Hills, Alex; and Linsenmeier, Joan (1997). "Butch, Femme, or Straight Acting? Partner Preferences of Gay Men and Lesbians.", ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology'', 73(5), pp. 960–973. |
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** Bergling, Tim (1997). "Sissyphobia", ''Genre'', p. 53. September. |
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** Bailey, Michael (1995). "Gender Identity", ''The Lives of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals'', p. 71-93. New York: Harcourt Brace. |
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{{Refend}} |
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==Further reading== |
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In contrast to this, effeminacy is often seen simply as one [[characteristic]] or trait which may or may not be a part of a male gender role, and in this sense not considered a vice or indicative of any other characteristics. |
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* Padva, Gilad. "Claiming Lost Gay Youth, Embracing Femininostalgia: Todd Haynes's ''Dottie Gets Spanked'' and ''Velvet Goldmine''". In: Padva, Gilad, ''Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture'', pp. 72–97 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-137-26633-0}}). |
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==External links== |
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The converse equivalent of effeminacy in women is [[masculine|masculinity]]. An informal term for masculine women is "[[butch]]", which is associated with [[lesbian]]ism. "Butch" is also used within the lesbian community, often without a negative connotation, but sometimes with a more specific meaning (13). Note, again, that the adoption of attitudes normally associated with the opposite sex is perceived as a sign of homosexuality. |
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* [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tyler-curry/the-strength-in-being-a-feminine-gay-man_b_3896302.html?ref=topbar Strength of Being an Effeminate Gay Man] |
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{{Subject bar|Human sexuality|LGBT |
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A Greek word that approaches one modern meaning of effeminate is ''kinaidos'' (or ''cinaedus''), a man "whose most salient feature was a supposedly "feminine" love of being sexually penetrated by other men." (14) However, "''cinaedus'' is not actually anchored in that specific sexual practice....It refers instead to a man who has an identity as gender deviant." (15) Kinaidos is malakos, but malakos is more general effeminacy (16). |
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|commons = Category:Effeminacy |
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|d = Q473652 |
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|n = Dr. Joseph Merlino on sexuality, insanity, Freud, fetishes and apathy |
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|q = Effeminacy |
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|wikt = effeminate}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Effeminacy| ]] |
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Other contemporary words for effeminacy include: "[[pansy]]", "[[nelly]]", "[[pussy]]", and "[[girl]]" (when applied to a boy or, especially, adult man). Contrastingly, a masculine girl would be called a "[[tomboy]]" or, less commonly, anti-gay slurs. |
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[[Category:Boys]] |
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[[Category:Gay effeminacy]] |
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Among Ancient Mediterranean masculinity was considered a difficult accomplishment, and thus kinaidos where those who gave up and succumbed to the temptation to pleasure, a feminine trait. |
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[[Category:Gender identity]] |
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[[Category:Gender roles]] |
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It was also considered effeminate for a man to be penetrated, especially by someone of a lower class. Taking an inappropriate sexual position in same-gender sex was considered effeminate unnatural in much the same way that taking any position in same-gender sex is disparaged today. |
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==Acceptance by society== |
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In most cultures, it was traditionally considered, if not a [[vice]], at least a weakness, indicative of other negative character [[trait]]s and more recently often involving a negative insinuation of [[homosexual]] tendencies. However, there have been times in history when behaviors that would now be considered effeminate were considered normal behavior in certain parts of society (see for instance the demeanor and clothing of the minions of the court of [[Henry III of France]]). |
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===Modern Bible Discrepancies=== |
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"The JB (1966) chooses "catamite," the NAB (1970) renders arsenokoités and malakos together as "sodomite," others translate malakos as "male prostitute" (NIV 1973, NRSV 1989), and again some combine both terms and offer the modem medicalized categories of sexual, or particularly homosexual, "perversion" (RSV 1946, TEV 1966, NEB 1970, REB 1992)." (16) |
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== References == |
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*(a) "...because the barbarians are more servile..." ''Politics'', 1285a 20. |
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*(1) ''On Virtues and Vices'', Loeb, pg 497 |
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*(2) Ibid, pg 499 |
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*(3) ''The Peloponnesian War'', Thucydides, trans. Crawley, The Modern Library, NY, l951. Book II, #40; pg 105. |
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*(4) ''Republic'', Plato, trans. B. Jowett, M.A., Vintage Books, pg 118 |
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*(5) ''Herodotus, The Histories'', trans. Robin Waterfield, Oxford University Press, NY, l998. Book I, 155-157; pg 69. |
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*(6) ''Complete Concordance'', Crudens, 1737. pg 755 |
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*(7) Xenophon, ''Econ''. IV, 3 as quoted in ''The Greeks'' by Kitto |
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*(8) quoted in ''Liberty or Equality'', Erik von Kuenhelt-Leddhin, pg 6, reference from ''Works'', ed, Washington [New York: Derby and Jackson, 1859], I, 403. |
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*(9) ''The Athenian Constitution'', Aristotle, Loeb Classical Library, Vol 285, Fr 7; pg 13. |
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*(10) Ibid, III 2; pg 15. |
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*(11) ''Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs'', David W. Bercot, Editor pg 445 |
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*(12) ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 20 vol. |
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*(13) "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community" |
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*(14) ''The Constraints of Desire'' by John Winkler |
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*(15) ''Roman Homosexuality'' by Craig Williams |
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*(16) "Arsenokoités and Malakos" by Dale Martin |
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==External Links== |
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*[http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/Hazlitt/TableTalk/Effeminacy.htm On Effeminacy of Character] |
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== Bibliography == |
|||
*''On Virtues and Vices'', Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, l992. Vol. #285 |
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*''The Eudemian Ethics'', Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library. Vol. #285 |
|||
*[[Oxford English Dictionary]], 20 vol. It has 75 references in English literature of over 500 years of usage of the word 'effeminate'. |
|||
*Davis, Madeline and Lapovsky Kennedy, Elizabeth (1989). "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community", ''Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past'' (1990), Duberman, etc, eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. ISBN 0452010675. |
|||
*Winkler, John J. (1990). ''The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece''. New York: Routledge. |
|||
*Williams, Craig A. (1999). ''Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity''. New York: Oxford University Press. |
|||
*Martin, Dale B. (1996). "Arsenokoités and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences", ''Biblical Ethics & Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture'', Robert L. Brawley, ed. Westminster John Knox Press. [http://www.clgs.org/5/5_4_3.html] |
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[[Category:Vice]][[Category:Feminism]][[Category:Gender]] |
Latest revision as of 11:06, 3 July 2024
Effeminacy or male femininity[1][2] is the embodiment of feminine traits in boys or men, particularly those considered untypical of men or masculinity.[3] These traits include roles, stereotypes, behaviors, and appearances that are socially associated with girls and women. Throughout Western civilization, men considered effeminate have faced prejudice and discrimination. Gay men are often stereotyped as being effeminate, and vice versa. However, femininity, masculinity, and other forms of gender expression are independent of sexual orientation.
Terminology
Effeminate comes from Latin effeminātus, from the factitive prefix ex- (from ex 'out') and femina 'woman'; it means 'made feminine, emasculated, weakened'.
Other vernacular words for effeminacy include: pansy, nelly, pretty boy, nancy boy, girly boy, molly, sissy, pussy, tomgirl, femboy,[4] roseboy, baby, and girl (when applied to a boy or, especially, adult man). The word effete similarly implies effeminacy or over-refinement, but comes from the Latin term effetus meaning 'having given birth; exhausted', from ex- and fetus 'offspring'. The term tomgirl, meaning a girlish boy, comes from an inversion of tomboy, meaning a boyish girl. The term girly boy comes from a gender-inversion of girly girl.
History
Ancient Greece and Rome
Greece
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/The_Younger_Apollo_Teaching_Hyacinth_to_Play_Lyra._Louis_de_Boullogne.jpg/170px-The_Younger_Apollo_Teaching_Hyacinth_to_Play_Lyra._Louis_de_Boullogne.jpg)
Greek historian Plutarch recounts that Periander, the tyrant of Ambracia, asked his "boy", "Aren't you pregnant yet?" in the presence of other people, causing the boy to kill him in revenge for being treated as if effeminate or a woman (Amatorius 768F).
When Aeschines was accused of treason by Athenians Timarchus and Demosthenes in 346 BC, he brought a counter suit claiming Timarchus had prostituted himself to (or been "kept" by) other men (Against Timarchus). He also attributed Demosthenes' nickname Batalos ("arse") to his "unmanliness and kinaidiā" and frequently commented on his "unmanly and womanish temper", even criticising his clothing: "If anyone took those dainty little coats and soft shirts off you... and took them round for the jurors to handle, I think they'd be quite unable to say, if they hadn't been told in advance, whether they had hold of a man's clothing or a woman's."[5]
In ancient Koine Greek, the word for effeminate is κίναιδος kinaidos (cinaedus in its Latinized form), or μαλακός malakoi: a man "whose most salient feature was a supposedly 'feminine' love of being sexually penetrated by other men":[6]
A cinaedus is a man who cross-dresses or flirts like a girl. Indeed, the word's etymology suggests an indirect sexual act emulating a promiscuous woman. This term has been borrowed from the Greek kinaidos (which may itself have come from a language of Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor, primarily signifying a purely effeminate dancer who entertained his audiences with a tympanum or tambourine in his hand, and adopted a lascivious style, often suggestively wiggling his buttocks in such a way as to suggest anal intercourse....The primary meaning of cinaedus never died out; the term never became a dead metaphor."[7]
The late Greek[a] Erôtes ("Loves", "Forms of Desire", "Affairs of the Heart"), preserved with manuscripts by Lucian, contains a debate "between two men, Charicles and Callicratidas, over the relative merits of women and boys as vehicles of male sexual pleasure." Callicratidas, "far from being effeminised by his sexual predilection for boys... Callicratidas's inclination renders him hypervirile... Callicratidas's sexual desire for boys, then, makes him more of a man; it does not weaken or subvert his male gender identity but rather consolidates it." In contrast, "Charicles' erotic preference for women seems to have had the corresponding effect of effeminising him: when the reader first encounters him, for example, Charicles is described as exhibiting 'a skillful use of cosmetics, so as to be attractive to women.'"
Rome
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Nisos_Euryalos_Louvre_LL450_n1.jpg/220px-Nisos_Euryalos_Louvre_LL450_n1.jpg)
Over-refinement, fine clothes and other possessions, the company of women, certain trades, and too much fondness with women were all deemed effeminate traits in Roman society. Taking an inappropriate sexual position, passive or "bottom", in same-gender sex was considered effeminate and unnatural. Touching the head with a finger and wearing a goatee were also considered effeminate.[9]
Roman consul Scipio Aemilianus questioned one of his opponents, P. Sulpicius Galus: "For the kind of man who adorns himself daily in front of a mirror, wearing perfume; whose eyebrows are shaved off; who walks around with plucked beard and thighs; who when he was a young man reclined at banquets next to his lover, wearing a long-sleeved tunic; who is fond of men as he is of wine: can anyone doubt that he has done what cinaedi are in the habit of doing?"[10]
Roman orator Quintilian described, "The plucked body, the broken walk, the female attire," as "signs of one who is soft [mollis] and not a real man."[11]
For Roman men masculinity also meant self-control, even in the face of painful emotions, illnesses, or death. Cicero says, "There exist certain precepts, even laws, that prohibit a man from being effeminate in pain,"[12] and Seneca adds, "If I must suffer illness, it will be my wish to do nothing out of control, nothing effeminately."[13]
Emperor/philosopher Julian the Apostate, in his Against the Galileans, wrote: ''Why are the Egyptians more intelligent and more given to crafts, and the Syrians unwarlike and effeminate, but at the same time intelligent, hot-tempered, vain and quick to learn?''
In his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar wrote that the Belgians were the bravest of all Gauls because "merchants least frequently resort to them, and import those things which tend to effeminate the mind".[14]
Emperor Marcus Aurelius evidently considered effeminacy an undesirable trait, but it is unclear what or who was being referred to.[15]
Gay men
China
The Chinese term for 'girlie men' is niang pao.
In September 2021, the Associated Press reported that the mainland Chinese government has banned effeminate men from appearing in television commercials. The Chinese government instructed broadcasters to stop showing "sissy men".[16][17]
United States
In the United States, boys are often homosocial,[18] and gender role performance determines social rank.[19] While gay boys receive the same enculturation, they are less compliant. Martin Levine summarizes: "Harry (1982, 51–52), for example, found that 42 percent of his gay respondents were 'sissies' during childhood. Only 11 percent of his heterosexual samples were gender-role nonconformists. Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith (1981, 188) reported that half of their male homosexual subjects practised gender-inappropriate behaviour in childhood. Among their heterosexual men, the rate of noncompliance was 25 percent. Saghir and Robins (1973, 18) found that one-third of their gay man respondents conformed to gender role dictates. Only 3 percent of their heterosexual men deviated from the norm." Thus effeminate boys, or sissies, are physically and verbally harassed (Saghir and Robins, 1973, 17–18; Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith 1981, 74–84), causing them to feel worthless[20] and "de-feminise".[20][21][22]
Before the Stonewall riots, inconsistent gender role performance had been noticed among gay men:[23][24][25] "They have a different face for different occasions. In conversations with each other, they often undergo a subtle change. I have seen men who appeared to be normal suddenly smile roguishly, soften their voices, and simper as they greeted homosexual friends [...] Many times I saw these changes occur after I had gained a homosexual's confidence and he could safely risk my disapproval. Once as I watched a luncheon companion become an effeminate caricature of himself, he apologized, 'It is hard to always remember that one is a man.'"[26][27] Before Stonewall, "closet" culture accepted homosexuality as effeminate behaviour, and thus emphasized camp, drag, and swish, including an interest in fashion[28][29][30] and decorating.[31][32][33] Masculine gay men were marginalised[34][35] and formed their own communities, such as the leather subculture,[36] and/or wore clothes that were commonly associated with working-class individuals,[37] such as sailor uniforms.[24][38]
There is a definite prejudice towards men who use femininity as part of their palette; their emotional palette, their physical palette. Is that changing? It's changing in ways that don't advance the cause of femininity. I'm not talking frilly-laced pink things or Hello Kitty stuff. I'm talking about goddess energy, intuition and feelings. That is still under attack, and it has gotten worse.
After Stonewall, "clone culture" became dominant and effeminacy is now marginalised. One indicator of this is a definite preference shown in personal ads for masculine-behaving men.[40] The avoidance of effeminacy by men, including gay ones, has been linked to possible impedance of personal and public health. Regarding HIV/AIDS, masculine behaviour was stereotyped as being unconcerned about safe sex practices while engaging in promiscuous sexual behaviour. Early reports from New York City indicated that more women had themselves tested for HIV/AIDS than men.[41][42] David Halperin compares "universalising" and "minoritising" notions of gender deviance: "'Softness' either may represent the specter of potential gender failure that haunts all normative masculinity, an ever-present threat to the masculinity of every man, or it may represent the disfiguring peculiarity of a small class of deviant individuals."[43]
The term effeminiphobia (sometimes effemiphobic, as used by Randy P. Conner) was coined by Will Fellows to describe strong anti-effeminacy.[44] Michael Bailey coined the similar term femiphobia to describe the ambivalence gay men and culture have about effeminate behaviour in 1995.[45] Gay author Tim Bergling popularized the term sissyphobia in Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior,[46][47] although it was used before.[48] Transgender writer and biologist Julia Serano has coined the similar term effemimania.[49][50] Feminist sociologist Rhea Ashley Hoskin suggests that these terms can be understood as relating to a larger construct of femmephobia, or "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone who is perceived to identify, embody, or express femininely and toward people and objects gendered femininely."[51] Since the 2000s, Peter Hennen's cultural analysis of gay masculinities has found effeminacy to be a "historically varying concept deployed primarily as a means of stabilising a given society's concept of masculinity and controlling the conduct of its men based upon the repudiation of the feminine".[52]
Modern context
Femboy (alternatively spelled femboi[4]) is a modern slang term used to refer to a male who displays traditionally feminine characteristics, such as wearing dresses, skirts, and/or thigh-highs.[4][53] It is a portmanteau of feminine and boy.[4] The term femboy emerged by at least the 1990s and gained traction online, used in both sexual and non-sexual contexts.[4] Recently, femboys have become increasingly visible due to their inclusion in popular media, and trends such as "Femboy Friday"[30][53] and "Femboy Hooters".[30] These trends involve self-identifying femboys posting images of themselves in online groups and forums, dressed in feminine clothing or a form of cosplay. Cosplay has become exceedingly popular among online femboys, usually cosplaying female, non-binary, or effeminate male characters.
While the term can be used as a slur towards trans women, it is also used as a positive/self-describing term within the LGBT community.[4]
See also
Notes
- ^ possibly c. fourth century
References
- ^ Hoskin R. A. “Femininity? It’s the aesthetic of subordination”: Examining femmephobia, the gender binary, and experiences of oppression among sexual and gender minorities // Archives of sexual behavior. – 2020. – V. 49. – №. 7. – p. 2319-2339.
- ^ Berkowitz D., Windsor E. J., Han C. W. (ed.). Male femininities. – NYU Press, 2023.
- ^ "effeminate". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
- ^ a b c d e f "What Does femboy Mean? | Gender & Sexuality by Dictionary.com". Everything After Z by Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
- ^ Dover, 1989
- ^ Winkler, 1990
- ^ Williams, 1999
- ^ Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and Civilization (Harvard University Press, 2003), pp. 84–86; Winn, The Poetry of War, p. 162.
- ^ Holland, 2004
- ^ fr. 17 Malcovati; Aulus Gellius, 6.12.5; cited/translated by Williams 1999, p. 23
- ^ Institutes 5.9.14, cited/translated by Richlin, 1993
- ^ Fin. 2.94
- ^ Epist. 67.4
- ^ Commentarii de Bello Gallico, I,1
- ^ Meditations, Book 4.
- ^ "China bans men it sees as not masculine enough from TV - ABC News". ABC News.
- ^ "China bans men it sees as not masculine enough from TV | AP News". Associated Press. 2 September 2021.
- ^ Gagnon, 1977
- ^ David and Brannon, 1976
- ^ a b Harry 1982, 20
- ^ Saghir and Robins 1973, 18–19
- ^ Levine, 1998, p. 5–16
- ^ Karlen, 1978
- ^ a b Cory and LeRoy, 1963
- ^ Newton, 1972
- ^ Stearn 1962, 29
- ^ Levine, 1998, p. 21–23
- ^ Henry, 1955
- ^ West, 1977
- ^ a b c "'Femboys': The TikTok trend shaking up gender norms". Happy Mag. 2021-01-08. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ Fischer 1972
- ^ White 1980
- ^ Henry 1955, 304
- ^ Warren 1972, 1974
- ^ Helmer 1963
- ^ Guy Baldwin (1993). "THE OLD GUARD (The History of Leather Traditions)". Ties that Bind. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- ^ Fischer, 1972
- ^ Levine, 1998, p. 21–23, 56
- ^ Interview with RuPaul, David Shankbone, Wikinews, October 6, 2007.
- ^ Bailey et al. 1997.
- ^ Sullivan, 1987
- ^ Levine, 1998, p. 148
- ^ David Halperin, 2002
- ^ Fellows, Will (2004). A Passion to Preserve: Gay Men as Keepers of Culture. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 280. ISBN 9780299196837. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
- ^ Michael Bailey, 1995
- ^ Dylan Vox, "Would Life Be Better if You Were Straight?" Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, Gaywired.com, Dec 20, 2007, also appeared in Edge, Boston
- ^ Bergling, Tim (2001). Sissyphobia: Gay Men and Effeminate Behavior. Routledge. ISBN 1-56023-990-5.
- ^ Oliven, John F. (1974). Clinical sexuality: a manual for the physician and the professions (3rd ed.). Lippincott. p. 110. ISBN 0-397-50329-6.
- ^ Harrison, Kelby (2013). Sexual Deceit: The Ethics of Passing. Lexington Books. p. 10. ISBN 978-0739177051.
- ^ Serano, Julia (2007). Whipping Girl. Berkeley: Seal Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-1580051545.
- ^ Hoskin, Rhea Ashley (2017-06-09). "Femme Theory: Refocusing the Intersectional Lens". Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice. 38 (1): 95–109 PDF. ISSN 1715-0698.
- ^ Hennen, Peter (2008). Faeries, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the Masculine. The University of Chicago Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780226327297.
- ^ a b Ran, Dani (2020-08-13). "Introducing 'Femboys', the Most Wholesome Trend On TikTok". Vice. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
Bibliography
- On Virtues and Vices, Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992. Vol. #285
- The Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle, trans. H. Rackham, Loeb Classical Library. Vol. #285
- Oxford English Dictionary, 20 vol. It has 75 references in English literature of over 500 years of usage of the word 'effeminate'.
- Davis, Madeline and Lapovsky Kennedy, Elizabeth (1989). "Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community", Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past (1990), Duberman, etc., eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. ISBN 0-452-01067-5.
- Winkler, John J. (1990). The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece. New York: Routledge.
- Williams, Craig A. (1999). Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Martin, Dale B. (1996). "Arsenokoités and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences", Biblical Ethics & Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture, Robert L. Brawley, ed. Westminster John Knox Press. [1]
- Holland, Tom (2004). Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-50313-X.
- Halperin, David M. (2002). How To Do The History of Homosexuality, p. 125. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-31447-2.
- K.J. Dover, (1989). Greek Homosexuality. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-36270-5.
- Levine, Martin P. (1998). Gay Macho. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-4694-2.
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Further reading
- Padva, Gilad. "Claiming Lost Gay Youth, Embracing Femininostalgia: Todd Haynes's Dottie Gets Spanked and Velvet Goldmine". In: Padva, Gilad, Queer Nostalgia in Cinema and Pop Culture, pp. 72–97 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, ISBN 978-1-137-26633-0).